The last time I tested a heatsink with a
38mm thick high-speed Delta fan my finger got sucked into the "blender of death" and there
was plenty of blood - see picture :) Be smart, keep that fan grill on
at all times.

The Model P heatsink from Dynatron is a full copper
skived heatsink with a very powerful, and very noisy Delta fan. Heck,
the fan is larger than the actual heatsink so that should tell you
something. These 38mm thick Delta fans draw 0.83A so it is better
to plug them into the power supply via a Molex pass thru cable adaptor. We haven't ever had a fan
blow a fuse on one of our motherboards, but I have heard a few
accounts of things happening in the long run which may be due to the
high current draw.

Anyway, lets get back to
the Dyantron Model P, its big fan, and all the cooling goodness it should
be providing. Both fins
and base are made from one solid piece of copper - there
are no joints whatsoever - and the process used to create this is called
skiving.

Wondering about these Skived
Copper fins we speak of? Well the manufacturing process goes something
analogous to a chisel cutting into a piece of wood. The difference is that the
cuts are much more controlled and result in straight bits of metal (the fins)
standing upright.

After removing the aluminum
shroud we were able to take a first hand look at these fins. Each fin has a
smooth side, and a rough side. The tips of the fins come to a knife edge, and
unlike what you might expect from copper are nice and stiff - probably due to
work hardening.

Smooth Side

If you were to look very
closely at a fin you could see one bumpy side
which has been created by the shearing forces as the copper was drawn up.
From a standpoint of crystalline structures this is kind of cool, but
insofar as heatsink performance is concerned it is merely academic.